Woods Stump Grinder

[foggy1111]

I put in another 1/2 day of stump grinding with my woods grinder. I now have ground out over 200 pine stumps in about 7-8 hours of use.

My stumps are all red pine and a few years old. The trees were mostly sheared just a few inches off the ground. The higher stumps definitely take more time. I grind mine about 6 or 8" below the ground so I can later run my disc or tiller though the area. (I run the disc first as I normally find some missed treasures).

At times my grinder will spit chips and debris up to 50 feet behind the cutting wheel - NOT a good place to watch! I don't have many rocks...but I bet a rock could go twice that far. No debris comes toward the tractor....nice!

A quick tooth inspection shows the teeth are still looking good and most have about 50% of the paint remaining.

The slip clutch is tough to set up. If....no....WHEN it slips you immediately know by the smoke. Just a little tighter (like 1/4 turn on the bolts) and I stall the engine before the slip clutch gives way. I am leaving mine set as such and hope it is protected from a shock load.

 

[daBear]

I am using a Kubota L2800 with my Woods TSG50 and it will stall the tractor if I get a little too aggressive with it. I have loosened the slip clutch so it will not stall the tractor since I only have 23 PTO horsepower. I have also put in flow control valves in the hydraulic lines so I can slow down the cylinders as much or as little as I want.

 

[Reg]

Teeth for $13.

Stump Grinder Teeth / Sandvik Teeth and Nuts -- Global Equipment Exporters Online Store

Old Style Cutter, SKU: 0450121. If you need the nut it is the "thick nut"

I have compared these to OEM and they are identical to what came on my TSG-50.

Right,
I thought I posted that link in a previous topic on this grinder.
Anyway, it only gets better;
I bought a dozen of these just before X-mas, $156 for the teeth, $5.16 for the THICK nuts, TEN BUX OFF FOR ORDERS OVER $100, shipping $7.73, total $158.89.

Down side ?
So far the originals look to be indestructible, despite an incident with a stone wall, so maybe a dozen spare teeth was a total waste of money (-:
I would go for the minimum quantity that gets the $10 off,,,

Not sure of this, but the ones I got APPEAR to be new tips brazed onto old shanks.
Since the shanks are in GREAT shape anyway I have no problem with this, the threads are good, there are just trace bits of orange paint on one or two of them - that is the only clue and I could be wrong.

MINOR error on their web site; they say they are a direct fit on Woods SG-50 and SG-100.
I have e-mailed them about this suggesting that they edit it to TSG.
SG-50 and SG-100 being something ELSE.

 

[foggy1111]

I am using a Kubota L2800 with my Woods TSG50 and it will stall the tractor if I get a little too aggressive with it. I have loosened the slip clutch so it will not stall the tractor since I only have 23 PTO horsepower. I have also put in flow control valves in the hydraulic lines so I can slow down the cylinders as much or as little as I want.

Good Idea!......The flow control valves may help me out too, as it's tough to feather the hydraulics at times. Seems I'm always a little over or under aggressive with the feed of the cutter. Woods did supply reduced orifice fittings....but I think could slow my feed by another 30% or so (on the sweep cylinder).

Recommendations? Model #s? Pics? Where did you get the flow control valves?

 

[Reg]

Good Idea!......The flow control valves may help me out too, as it's tough to feather the hydraulics at times. Seems I'm always a little over or under aggressive with the feed of the cutter. Woods did supply reduced orifice fittings....but I think could slow my feed by another 30% or so (on the sweep cylinder).

Recommendations? Model #s? Pics? Where did you get the flow control valves?

I haven't found it necessary to limit my swing speed (yet), in fact I was pleasantly surprised that the swing cylinder seems SO well matched to the cutting speed that I assumed there was already a flow limiter built into the cylinder - though I haven't LOOKED for one .
Dave (of Global equipment exporters) mentioned wheel wear to me, these wheels don't have any real face teeth and can wear quickly if you rub the face.
So I take very small bites, i.e. I try to be sure that I am cutting with ONLY the rim teeth.
Again, I am using a very low power setting (on a small tractor), maybe running 1200/1300 RPM engine speed with the PTO on the 1,000 RPM gear.
This might come down to "speeds and feeds" (machine shop 101) I'm sure I could drop the wheel 4 inches, plow into the side of a stump and stall the tractor, but I would MUCH rather make 1/2 dozen fast passes at that 4 inches and barely hear the tractor governor bring the engine back up to speed.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

We NEED a video of these grinders in action. Has anyone used them on large 18"+ hardwoods? I've got mostly oaks in my area but it's always a toss up for me to dig them with the hoe or grind them.

Matt

 

[foggy1111]

I haven't found it necessary to limit my swing speed (yet), in fact I was pleasantly surprised that the swing cylinder seems SO well matched to the cutting speed that I assumed there was already a flow limiter built into the cylinder - though I haven't LOOKED for one .
Dave (of Global equipment exporters) mentioned wheel wear to me, these wheels don't have any real face teeth and can wear quickly if you rub the face.
So I take very small bites, i.e. I try to be sure that I am cutting with ONLY the rim teeth.
Again, I am using a very low power setting (on a small tractor), maybe running 1200/1300 RPM engine speed with the PTO on the 1,000 RPM gear.
This might come down to "speeds and feeds" (machine shop 101) I'm sure I could drop the wheel 4 inches, plow into the side of a stump and stall the tractor, but I would MUCH rather make 1/2 dozen fast passes at that 4 inches and barely hear the tractor governor bring the engine back up to speed.

Seems I operate my grinder just about opposite of your method. I don't have 1000 RPM for PTO....so I throttle my engine up to rated PTO speed (2200 RPM?) and as I am working with softwoods, I take as big of a bite as possible per sweep. Typically I take 3 or 4" per pass and find myself feathering the sweep so as to not overload the engine. I'm the impatient type.

I'm sure if I was working with hardwoods I could only chip an inch or so per pass. "Fresh" pine stumps are more like 2" or so per pass. I'm going to more closely inspect my wheel to see if I am getting any wear to it (I dont think so).

Note on video request.....search youtube for "stump grinder", stump, or grinder. I saw a few tractor mounted grinders last year.

 

[foggy1111]

We NEED a video of these grinders in action. Has anyone used them on large 18"+ hardwoods? I've got mostly oaks in my area but it's always a toss up for me to dig them with the hoe or grind them.

Matt

I've done a few oak stumps on my property. These take much longer to grind than the pines I describe above. Still....I think it is much faster than digging 'em out with a backhoe....then having to burn or bury a stump and fill a hole.

After grinding the stumps....I just run over the hole with a loader bucket, box blade or landscape rake to smooth the land and follow with my disc.

From my perspective....a hoe would be 4x the work of a grinder. Still, I hear lots of guys say they like to dig em out.

 

[Reg]

Seems I operate my grinder just about opposite of your method. I don't have 1000 RPM for PTO....so I throttle my engine up to rated PTO speed (2200 RPM?) and as I am working with softwoods, I take as big of a bite as possible per sweep. Typically I take 3 or 4" per pass and find myself feathering the sweep so as to not overload the engine. I'm the impatient type.

I'm sure if I was working with hardwoods I could only chip an inch or so per pass. "Fresh" pine stumps are more like 2" or so per pass. I'm going to more closely inspect my wheel to see if I am getting any wear to it (I dont think so).

Note on video request.....search youtube for "stump grinder", stump, or grinder. I saw a few tractor mounted grinders last year.

I have no argument with that - maybe I am being overly cautious of the wheel wear issue, but those are EXPEN$IVE to replace.
I am the same with most cutting tools (saws, routers, milling machines, lathes, etc., wood, metal or plastic), I don't like to LOAD them beyond barely detectable slow down.
Cutting edges stay sharper longer if they stay cool - and they stay cooler the faster they spin and the more time they spend OUT of the work - so I'm a "small bites guy" (-:
Swing cylinders ? I don't mind running THOSE at their maximum speed.

 

[Reg]

I think there are cases for digging 'em out, there are cases for grinding 'em down.
I agree that grinding is quicker/easier (-:

Future intended use may determine the most desirable method in many/most cases.

Leaving 'em in to eventually rot may not be wise if you intend to turn horses out there.
Horse hooves represent HUGE point pressures that will punch into soft spots, etc.

For row crop use, you will pretty much re-level the area every year anyway, so a gradual subsidence may not matter.
Although I suppose there COULD BE a sudden sub-terrain collapse that would cause a sudden tractor side tip ?

 

[foggy1111]

300+ stumps now. Teeth still cut like new. I dont see any appreciable wear to the teeth or the wheel.....but most of the paint is off the teeth and the right side of the wheel has qutie a bit of the paint wore off. Still.....I dont see any major wear....and I expect to grind another 300 stumps and still be going strong with the original teeth (I hope). I do not have any rocks... but my soil is pretty sandy and I grind the stumps without regard for the dirt and sand to a depth of about 8".

I have ground a few oaks and some other hardwoods...but most are pine and a few years old....so they grind quite nicely. I suppose the oak take 3 to 5 times longer. I get up to 30 pine stumps ground per hour.

For my purposes....this grinder has proven to be the right machine.

 

[daBear]

Wow, my email did not let me know this conversation was going on until this morning. I haven't checked this thread in a while. A while ago foggy1111 asked where I got the flow control valves. Surplus Center I went with the needle valve bacause it controls flow in both directions. If you only want to slow down the movement in one directions you can do that with the other inline valve they have. This is less than half price of my local hydraulics shops.

 

[Redbug]

Foggy, Reg, DaBear...Being able to grind down 6-8 inches below ground level is about what the tree guys grind down to. Out of curiosity...can it go deeper?

Also looking at it...it looks like it needs 2 sets of remotes to run it. One for back and forth, and one for up and down. Is that right?

Your outfit has gotten me to thinking...

 

[Reg]

Foggy, Reg, DaBear...Being able to grind down 6-8 inches below ground level is about what the tree guys grind down to. Out of curiosity...can it go deeper?

Also looking at it...it looks like it needs 2 sets of remotes to run it. One for back and forth, and one for up and down. Is that right?

Your outfit has gotten me to thinking...

Supposedly it can grind from 16 inches above, for TALL cut offs and 16 inches below, I assume they mean the same very flat and even horizontal plane that the tractor is on.
You could probably grind very vertically with it if you wanted to - i.e.just grind away at a standing tree and drop it (on yourself ?).

Yes, two rear remotes, but it is kinda nice to use it with the hydraulic top link, especially if you are working into a bank.
So three is handy and you would need four if you have top 'n tilt - - Yeah, tilt could be useful for this.
{A bank of the dirt type, not financial institution, although I could probably cut a hole in the wall and....... Oh, fergettit}

I think I will saw off anything above about ankle bone height in future, so the 16 above isn't useful anyway.
I can't see needing to go the full 16 below grade... not for anything I would want to do later.

 

[daBear]

I already had top and tilt and added a second power beyond joy stick two spool controller. I think woods sells a kit that will enable you to use it with a single spool valve. I like the top and tilt with the grinder and it enables you to grind on slopes a little deeper. I think the bottom plate on the grinder will keep it from going much deeper than 6-8 inches. But is plenty for me.

 

[GreatWhitehunter]

Is there any reason you couldn't plumb it to the power beyond circuit and mount a dual spool valve on the grinder? This way you could stand beside it to operate rather than looking over your shoulder.

Matt

 

[daBear]

I guess it is possible, but may not be practical. I don't have any problem not seeing and I am standing beside my tractor at the right rear wheel when operating it. Not in the drivers seat.

 

[deereman75]

I am surprised how fast that thing can work, i have herd those little handle bar stump grinders (DR stump grinder like) can take up to 15 mins for a 12 inch pine stump from 5 inches high to a few inches below ground.:thumbsup:

 

[foggy1111]

I use the loaders joystick valve to operate both the sweep and the up / down cylinders on the grinder (plus the rockshaft to set the "frame" on the ground). I use my 3rd svc to operate the loader boom...and do not have use of the curl function when I have the grinder installed. I have the hard-line kit that goes to the front...and that has a set of couplers near the other loader couplers....so its all "plug and play" for me. :thumbsup:

I think you could grind em to 16" deep if you were so inclined as has been said.

I stay in the tractor seat....and I am getting pretty good at chewing up pine stumps as my technique improves. It would take me longer to mount / dismount than it takes to grind some of em (plus I hate getting on and off the tractor). I grind em deep enough to run my tiller and or my disc over the top after I'm done.

 

[scoutcub]

Foggy -

great thread! I own a property that the wife and I want to settle on in the future....but right before we bought it the previous owner logged all the good timber, and left us a "stump farm", as well as a bunch of useless tops. So I've bought a coupla big yellow stumpmovers, but after digging out numerous stumps, I'm now of the opinion that I should drill/rot or grind the majority of them. It took me several hours just to get one monster out, then I'm piling them up to burn them, more work.

Soooo...I definitely appreciate this thread, gives me a new direction to explore. Now just need to find a deal......when did you say you might be done with yours??!!